Hi I've been a bit of a lurker here for a while and thought it good manners to say hello. I became interested when I rediscovered my old Sony WM60 looking rather sad in a storage box. I bought it new, got to be 30 years ago. Of course it didn't work when I tried some batteries in. A little nervously I took the plunge and stripped it down to find the remains of the belt gumming up the works. Chuffed to bits when it all went back together and it works as good as I remember. Since then I have enjoyed listening to my collection of cassettes, some of which I've not heard for years and years. Emboldened by my success I looked for another to attempt a repair on and picked up a WM DD11 for spares or repair. Mixed results with that one, I might have to call on you for some help with this one.
Hi, kona49. Welcome to Stereo2Go. If I may be so bold, you're one of the more mature members of this boombox-fan website -- indeed, in boomboxing altogether. (Then again, some would say I should have given up any non-professional interest in boomboxes by now -- and we're apart by over a decade. ) Minutes ago, I finished watching YouTube videos uploaded by people showing their own electronics playing music -- in both cases, early '90s hit "slow jams." (Though "I Will Always Love You," the song made hugely popular by the tragically late Whitney Houston, was memorably recorded earlier by Dolly Parton: in, I think, the early 1980s.) The first video showed a Sony WM-60 playing the Whitney Houston version of the ballad. The second, slightly longer clip showed someone playing the Boyz II Men hit ballad "I'll Make Love To You." I suppose the Sony WM-DD11 in that video was playing the cassette's audio through the nearby laptop. I forget: what inputs do even the newest laptops have for playing analog-era electronics through their speakers? Anyway, the Shazam app' on my BLU smartphone was able to ID both songs with the first attempt. That's a sign of a properly working cassette deck: that it plays back audiotapes at a rate close enough to the standard 1.875 inches per second audiocassette playback speed, stably enough for the Shazam app' to correctly identify music played by the tape deck. (Yes, I paused typing this message to check the cassette-playback stats online.) You are certainly commended for succeeding in replacing the "turned to tar" tape-deck rubber belt that was "gumming up the works" in your WM-60. And you are wished more success in fixing your WM-DD11, an apparently higher-end, more sophisticated model than a WM-60, though neither of them records, as far as I know. (I've had no success when I tried to repair my own boomboxes, though some people on two boombox-fan 'sites, including Stereo2Go, once tried to help before losing patience with me. I'm afraid I'm not "technically inclined" myself -- too bad.) Well, enjoy good music with those (and any other) cassette players that you have. (Fancy some symphonic music on cassette?) Take care.
Welcome to the forum, most of this equipment nowadays needs to have some work done to it, most of it is pretty straightforward and can be kind of relaxing if you take your time. A lot of members are just learning, don't be afraid to go outside of your skill-set.
Thank you both @Easthelp. Now I can play it again I listened to the very first cassette I ever bought. Led Zeppelin 111, I must have owned that cassette for about 50 years now. I suddenly feel rather old, or as you kindly put it, "mature". Take care all.
